Caption: Typhoon Tokage. Satellite image of Typhoon Tokage (centre) hitting the western coast of Japan (upper left) on 19 October 2004 at 0410 GMT. The typhoon produced winds of 225 kilometres per hour. Tokage was described as the worst typhoon to hit Japan in 25 years after it claimed 77 lives. It was the 10th typhoon to hit Japan in 2004. Typhoons are huge cyclonic storm systems of high winds blowing around a central eye. They form in areas of relatively calm ocean around the equator. As moist air is forced upwards, a low pressure region forms that becomes the eye of the storm. Image taken by the SeaWiFS Sensor on the OrbView-2 satellite.